Ryan: Putin pays Trump

When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for
Ryan, said: “That never happened,” and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: “The idea
that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false.”

After being told that The Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck,
speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: “This entire year-old exchange was clearly an
attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald
Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. What’s more, the speaker and
leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russia’s interference in our election, and
the House continues to investigate that activity.”

I'm for leaks in general, so long as they are accurate and so long as they can be contextualized; preferably by government transparency but by other leaks if necessary. The problem we have is we live in a world where no-one's privacy is absolute and our ability to protect it is eroding. This means privacy can be weaponized by those who can afford it.

Radical transparency is the only solution to this problem. If getting that transparency depends on those who risk their careers (and more), EVEN IF THEY ARE DOING IT TO FURTHER AN AGENDA, then so be it. Those who are embarrassed by the leaks can avoid the problem though becoming more transparent in the first place.

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hate admitting David Brin was right. But he was right.

Jack, the problem is that most leaks are propagated by people with an agenda
and they will only leak the information that promotes their agenda leaving
out a lot of context and not necessarily accurate.

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